Gambit

2

"Belief is not a matter of choice, but of conviction."

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          "Blood breathing, Second form: Blood of The Coven." You slice through a tree with ease, helped by the illusion of many more swords made of blood. Wiping sweat off your forehead, you sigh. "I'm kinda hungry. I suppose I should go look for something to eat." You grumble, trudging further into the woods.

         So far, you've only made three forms of blood breathing; Shower, Blood of the Coven, and Shed. Of your current three, you've managed to master two forms as you were looking for food. Using the third form, Shed, provides a blood trail to the nearest living organism within a certain range. Unfortunately for them, that also means hunting down demons and accidentally scaring slayers.

First form was powerful, but left you exposed on your sides, hence why you created the Second form. Second form creates blood minions that cover your vulnerable sides whilst being able to attack an opponent.

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          Much wandering later, you stumble across a clearing with a large tree in the center. This tree was apparently one that bore fruit; scarlet apples dangling from the branches above. Reaching out, you pluck the nearest fruit, with the branch snapping back in place.

     Just for the extra precaution, you unsheath your sword and poke your hand, drawing blood. "Blood breathing, Third form: Shed." A trail of floating blood condenses in front of you, leading into the mess of leaves and branches above. A demon waiting to ambush? Huh, that's new. You sigh and walk away, not bothering to attack the thing in the tree until you hear the branches rustling above. A pale figure dropped down in front of you, its white flowy robes gracefully following.

          "You're a demon," You state, pointing your katana at the crouching figure. "Do you talk? Who are you?"

          "Tsukiko Yuzuki. You may choose how to address me. I am a demon, although not the same as those around us. I do not wish for harm to befall those 'Slayers,' and I wish to help them, although all that have come here have tried to kill me."

"Sure thing. Is this fruit actually edible? Like, it won't have any side effects from eating it, right?" I sheath my sword and hold out the fruit.

          Yuzuki shakes her head. "No, it will not have any side effects. From what I've been able to gather from these fruits, they are quite filling and refreshing, but provide no negative effects. This fruit provides little benefit for me, so please take some."
You shrug and store a few apples in the pocket of your hakama. "So tell me, when you say you aren't like the other demons, are you just a pick me, or are you actually different?"

          "This may take a bit, please have a seat," Yuzuki gestures and a bench of tree roots push out from the dirt. "I originally discovered demons a great many years ago when I was gathering herbs for my village. I was out in a nearby meadow when I came across a stunning spider lily like no other. It was a beautiful blue, and there were no other spider lilies nearby, so I plucked it and took it home."

          "I researched it when I got home, but found nothing. As one of the apothecaries in my village, I preferred to test new herbs by ingesting them, so I did. I ground up a few petals, part of the stem, and a stamen into a pulp and drank it. Immediately after, I noticed my eyesight improved, my hearing improved greatly, and I could now smell much more than before."

          "A day or so after I ate part of the flower, a demon approached me in the forest, asking if I'd seen the flower. I didn't know he was a demon, so I pointed him in the direction of my village and said that I had found it near there. I had brought that flower with me that day, hoping to find more."

          "I was heading back to the village when I realized that man was a demon." Yuzuki sighed heavily. "As I grew closer, I could smell blood, and I could faintly hear the man killing the villagers I loved. I ran away with the flower, but the demon gave chase quickly. I don't know how far I ran, but I ran until the demon was no longer following me.
Then, I stored the flower in the hole in the trunk of a large tree."

          Yuzuki ponts at the fruit tree. "I assume the flower somehow bonded to the tree, because it now produces fruit. Curiously enough, spider lilies grow at the base of this tree, and occasionally a blue spider lily will sprout. Over the years, I ended up protecting this tree and living here as a result. It was around this time that your 'Demon Slayer Corps' was formed when a young man introduced himself to me and asked if he could turn this into a cultivation site for future slayers."

          Yuzuki stands from her root chair. "It's getting quite late, would you like to spend the night here?" Still processing the information, you mindlessly nod, following after Yuzuki. She leads you to a circular clearing with a dense roof of leaves and branches. "Please sleep anywhere you find suitable, this area is protected from the elements and visible only to those without ill-intent."

          You walk around the sheltered clearing, taking in this area. There were areas that were padded as places to sit, and larger areas, most likely to sleep or rest on. You choose to place your baori down on a padded area towards the back of the clearing, so you can keep watch on the entrance, just in case.

          Reaching into your hakama pockets, you realize how tired you are from running around all day, fueled by adrenaline. Now that you finally had a moment to rest, your exhaustion caught up with you and weighed down your eyelids, beckoning you to sleep.